lunedì, settembre 18, 2006

La rentrée

What a lovely weekend. It feels as though I’m coming back from a holiday this morning, which is good as next weekend will be my undergraduate reunion – I think I’ll enjoy it but it won’t be particularly restful – and the week after that I’m going to England, and both of those things will be far away from my sweetheart.

Last night was the final Music Garden concert of the year, and maybe the final one altogether if the Island aeroport expansion goes through. I shall miss them, if that’s the case, or I would if I was planning on staying in Toronto. So idyllic, last night, seeing the Kirby Quartet in front of a sunny clump of flowers, variously gentle and thrilling strains of Beethoven, Britten amd Purcell while bees and butterflies drank.

At the same time I’m not sold on the idea of pushing aeroports and flights constantly out to the ‘burbs, especially when the GTA has to give up so much of its tax revenue for crappier regions in Ontario and apparently can’t afford to improve the dismal transportation links to Pearson. But then the proposed expansion is totally half-ass and will probably just involve more Montréal flights, as if that investment wouldn’t be better made and cleaner getting us some TGVs. If I were in charge of everything, wouldn’t the world be lovely? Yes. Yes it would.

Speaking of which, I read A Brave New World this weekend. What a brainfuck. You should read it if you haven’t – everybody should. I wonder what the narrative would have been like if Huxley had had the balls to make the Savage a pure Savage, and not the traumatized child of a normal Englishwoman who was marginalized in the native community because of her sluttiness, but, you know, who the fuck cares. That book is wow.

9 commenti:

Sugarplum ha detto...

Our cities are spending so much money paving roads to the suburbs that the downtown cores are getting the shaft. I wish our municipal governments would spend more time thinking about green ideas - Toronto really needs it to be a priority - and get their heads out of their asses. I think they really need to improve and diversify the train service (especially between Toronto and Montreal) instead of the airports. We're falling so far behind Europe and even Asia in our city planning - it's frustrating.

Mistress La Spliffe ha detto...

It's extremely frustrating - it drives me crazy, how our system is set up to allow, even facilitate institutional incompetence and a complete lack of long-term vision. And I thought France was bad. Well, it is. But frankly, this is just humiliating.

Melbine ha detto...

You're starting to get me excited about the Yo-Yo Ma concert next week. Mmmm...it's going to be so good!

Aren't airports etc. outside of the downtown core so that nothing potentially crazy and earth-shattering would happen to all the lovely buildings and people if something would go wrong?

I think it's interesting how everyone feels that wherever they live, of course this is the place getting the shaft from their municipality. You should hear some people in the suburbs..but you know, they have a point in that they live here too and put hard-earned tax dollars into the city coffers. So why shouldn't their needs get taken care of as well?

Sigh. Better go write my own little piece.

Mistress La Spliffe ha detto...

I think aeroports are where they are because they take alot of land and land in cities is expensive.

I find it hard to feel sympathy for most suburbanites when it comes to taxes. Bear in mind this next bit isn't about you - I know where you live is good for Krazy's work - but most suburbanites have inexcusably big ecological footprints. They take up lots of land, and they hardly ever grow useful stuff in their gardens. They usually live a big dirty car ride away from where they work in the middle of the city and usually don't car pool.

They've chosen a selfish, isolated lifestyle which they can afford because property is cheaper out there, so it's hard for me to feel sympathy for them when they think they're getting shafted on civic taxes when most of those taxes are re-directed towards provincial coffers anyways and when they put a big strain on the city by using its transportation infrastructure and keeping jobs in it while spending the money they earn there in big box shopping malls in their own car-oriented communities. There's something really parasitical about the relationship.

Melbine ha detto...

Ah, good point about the airports.

Don't worry, I feel no loyalty to suburbia..I noticed that I wrote about them in my last comment as if I didn't live there myself! Because I don't really feel any connection to them. And I do agree exactly with what you say. This is why we're on a 2 year plan to leave..well, one of the reasons anyway!

Mistress La Spliffe ha detto...

Yay for two-year plans . . . I need to talk to you about how you're going to do what you're doing because Figaro and I will probably do something similar, insh'Allah.

Sugarplum ha detto...

I agree, I agree, I agree. Can I join your two year plan? Not that I live in suburbia and all that jazz but a two year plan sounds so nice right now. My one year plan is for my fiance to get a job when he's done school and we'll move wherever that is. Not much of a plan, is it?!

Mistress La Spliffe ha detto...

It's a great plan. Especially as you're expanding your professional experiences into things that can be done remotely. Just make sure he gets a job that isn't in a sucky unfun place.

Melbine ha detto...

My plan isn't very sophisticated and it's mostly dependent on Krazy finding a good job where we want to move...but I must say I've always thought a few years ahead. It's both a good and bad thing..